Overall, the decline in retail sales has been driven by a 20.3% y-o-y drop in motor vehicles, as consumers put the brakes on car purchases amid the cautious economic outlook. Excluding motor vehicles, August’s retail sales figure would have fallen by a more modest rate of 1.0% y-o-y.

“Notably, a decline in motor vehicle sales has been seen in eight months out of the last eleven months,” Gan says.

Meanwhile, furniture & household equipment as well as watches & jewellery also contributed significantly to the decline in overall retail sales.

“August’s decline in retail sales growth could also suggest that tourist receipts in the nine months of 2019 may likely stay benign,” Gan adds. “Tourist receipts data however remains rather laggard, and has registered a contraction of 4.8% to S$6.5 billion in the first quarter of 2019.”

According to recent data released by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), visitor arrivals for the first eight months of 2019 have climbed 1.9% y-o-y to 12.6 million.

In August alone, visitor arrivals climbed 3.1% y-o-y to hit 1.73 million. The influx was mainly attributed to the longer holidays in the month, as well as the unrest in Hong Kong, which is said to have diverted tourists here.